Kokanee Hut

My architecture project from last semester has finally served a purpose. Due to the mild weather, all of the snow is melting; except in the middle of that brick structure that bares a semblance to a 1st century roman cylindrical tomb. What luck. Ice is for suckers. Snow cold beer is where it's at. I'm so busy studying that this is the only post you're getting from me. I'm keeping my 25 things to myself.

Random Things About Me

Facebook had this great idea to post 25 random things about your self. I decided since my family members are not on FaceBook (except Cous Matt and Ang), I would post some of the highlights here. This may be cheesy, but I'm feeling cheesy today so for you jerks who will make fun of me (Kurt & Tyson namely) - deal with it! And for those reading who are not on Facebook - I would LOVE an email with random things about you. It's kind of fun to think about.
~I have conversations with my dog during the day while Tyson is away at school.
~I cry weekly during Extreme Home Makeover. And easily cry during any sad parts of movies - even if I just walked in and watch 5 minutes, sad parts make me cry every time!
~My mom, aunt and cousin were like having additional sisters at various times growing up. Sometimes they got after me about various things, but mostly just great people to have deep talks with who cared about helping me while I grew up.
~People always say I'm nice and the cheerleader for the team, but man can i get competitive especially in random sports like flag football and Flip Cup. Watch out!
~I started dying my hair this year due to the grays... I can thank Tiad for that :)
~I LOVE the smell of skunk.
~I HATE the sound of cotton balls being ripped apart and am still bitter to my friends for filling my car with them on my 18th birthday.
~If I could do anything I wanted to, I would live on the outskirts of KC and own a doggie daycare/boarding facility and also try to help in training of rescued doggies. If horses could be thrown into that somehow - EVEN better!
~I am obsessed with learning more about why people join cult-like groups so watch documentaries and read books about them.
~If I could change one thing about myself, it would be to have a better singing voice.
~My brother and I get along amazingly and never really had growing pains with each other. People thought we were twins when I was 16 and he was 12 which used to make me mad that people thought I could look like a kid 4 years younger. Now I would be elated if anyone still asked!
~I'm embarrassed to admit, but I find myself enjoying things geared towards teens - the shows One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl - but my biggest obsession has been the Twilight series!
~I'm HORRIBLE at remembering birthdays, but always like to send a card, even if it's a month late. (this also applies for Thank You notes - I always have piles of them ready to go but for some reason getting stamps always gets in my way!)
~I fell in love with my husband in the 8th grade while watching him sing and dance in a Chorus Line (if you know Tyson, the fact that he was in a musical might be the most interesting portion of that statement.)
~I have the cutest, most amazing babies and kidos in my life (of close friends and family) who are all leading me to believe parenthood is much easier than I thought.
~I have one of the most outstanding pseudo families in the world in Leavenworth. My pseudo - g-ma is in her early 90s and I've never met someone so witty!
~My first words after mama and dadda were Donut (our dog) and Waids (where my dad used to take me to eat all the time.
~I could easily exist as a vegetarian b/c I don't really like much when it comes to meat, except I could never give up big juicy steaks or Z-man sandwiches.
~I have been to the Galapagos Islands and witnessed some of the most amazing animals I will ever see in person. Thanks to my aunt and uncle for making the most amazing trip of my life possible!
But number one on my list is easily this for me right now: Moving to Montana for Tyson's school has done amazing things for our marriage. We rely on each other and are experiencing something new, exciting, and at times - scary together. It's wonderful.

Love you all and hope you weren't bored by my random things about myself :)

New Year - Same Gal

I always debate over my New Years Resolutions and as I sit here, I realize many things I would have liked to have done in 08. I didn't send a Happy Holidays Berndt photo. Here it is, so you can pretend that you received it in the mail around December 20th. I also didn't do as well being as Green as I would have liked. But now that my Xmas photo is being sent to you via internet - i can mark that as a more environmentally friendlly choice! Well, I'll stop thinking about 08 and think about the fun new year ahead! Will I learn to snowboard with that giant thing of a snowboard my sister-in-law lent to me while we live here? I'm going to try, but I"m doubting much knowing my lacking coordination... Will I become a chef du jour? I'm working on it with some new recipes - if you have good ones, forward them! Will I find a nice farmer who will let me ride his horses for free?! that's one I'm hoping for, although romping in the local Bozeman Dog parks is hardly the place to make friends with the country folk. Who knows what will happen, but I'm sure it will be a great year!

Is it possible my good mood is due to the weather? I am happy to report that it was 45 degrees warmer here in the great NorthWest compared to KC! I had to rub that in a little bit, as on average we are 10 degrees cooler here. I'll be enjoying that high of 50 on Saturday! Hope this finds you well, warm and ready for 2009!

Check out my new wheels

The abundance of ice and snow make bicycle travel rather treacherous during the winter months in Bozeman. The city likes to plow the streets selectively, leaving many to become skating rinks. Due to this uncontrollable situation, upgrades are necessary in order to maintain safe and effective travel. With the aid of approximately 150 1/2" screws I have achieved acceptable wheel travel. While home for x-mas, I took my brothers bike that had been rusting for many years and have resurrected it into my winter bike. It took almost a full can of WD-40 to save the poor thing. The old seatpost was completely rusted and the only means of extricating it from its oxidized hold was to operate with a sawzall. But, it lives to ride another day. Travis, you can have it back when I'm done with school. Molly is so happy I have another bike. The others were lonely and they love having a new friend.

Here's what's left of the seatpost:

We Have Returned to the Land of Snow and Ice

We have finally come back to Bozeman after a long x-mas break. Molly flew home on the Lockton Leer Jet while I drove across the country with Moose. Many sights/sites were seen by man and canine alike as we traversed the wind swept plains of Kansas, and then followed the front range of the Rockies all the way home. School starts next week, so I will be hard at work preparing for next semester. This will entail sleeping in every day and doing as little as humanly possible. How's work going for everyone? Ah, aside from the massive amount of debt that is being incurred, college life is so cool. Here are some pics from the last couple of weeks.

FINALS ARE OVER..........I'M GOING HOME!!!!!

Sorry we haven't written in a while. I've been studying non-stop for the past month and Molly doesn't know how to use a computer. I was able to sell exactly ONE of my books back, which should pay for gas to Cheyenne. The thing that is really frustrating is that two of the books I bought were never even used in class, let alone read. And of course they decided to buy back only 5 copies of each. The University system is a money guzzler. Oh, and at my CHEM final the other night one of the TA's told everyone not to die over break because "the university needs your tuition money and I need a job." That was verbatum. Real inspirational pre-final speech. He must have failed his public speaking class. Well, no intellectual thought for me until next semester. I'm off to Kansas. I'll leave you with this amazing beer ad I found on the web.

Thanksgiving report

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! Our friends Kelly and Joel flew up to help us eat and drink the weekend away. We spent Turkey day at a friends house in Bozeman and Friday in Yellowstone Park. We have a season pass now, so if anybody wants to go we'll only charge a small guide fee. It can be paid in money or beer. Speaking of, I have a new favorite beer. It's brewed here in Bozeman at the Bozone Brewery; the Bozone Amber. Unfortunately it does not come in bottle form. If people send me money I'll bring a keg home for x-mas break. See everybody in a few weeks. Here are some pics from the park. The first is a herd of "Wapiti". Largest herd I've ever seen; possibly 200-300. Second shot is a Bighorn Sheep near the North Entrance of the park. Third shot shows the extravagant conditions of the back seat of my truck.